(Minghui.org) Greetings, venerable Master! Greetings, fellow practitioners!
I began practicing Falun Dafa in 2002 and I’d like to share three of my experiences during which I initially refused but later agreed to help with Dafa work.
The Epoch Times switched from being a weekly edition to being published every day soon after I started practicing Falun Dafa, and needed more practitioners to help. A practitioner in my school invited me and other teachers to help with the newspaper layout. I initially refused because I wasn’t artistic and didn’t think I could do it.
She soon contacted me again and said they were really short-staffed, and explained that she accepted this job even though she didn’t know how to use word file. She said that I was more skillful at computers and asked why I didn’t join, so I attended the training for layout.
At first, I spent hours laying out one page, and often spent an entire night putting articles and pictures on one page. I wondered how it was possible to finish it in one hour. Through constant practice, I was able to lay out one page in an hour and I formally became a layout artist. I felt so proud when I saw those pages printed out.
Layout is a simple job. But proofreading and replacing articles is emotionally draining. I often spent one or two hours, or even longer than the time it took to do the lay out, to fix it. I was sometimes impatient and even swore at the computer screen when my xinxing was not up to par. But I realized this was a cultivation process.
I adjusted my schedule in order to do online layout. My husband and children didn’t disturb me and helped with many house chores. My children were in kindergarten at that time but have now graduated from universities. My husband and I are now retired.
Editing, proofreading and layout form an integrated whole. Everyone does their own part, and we complement and encourage each other. We work on separate computers yet our goal is the same. We take our responsibilities and present a fact-based, beautifully designed newspaper to the readers.
From my initial refusal and inability to do the job, I can now finish layout within the time frame. It’s my great pleasure to complete the layout with other practitioners, and I feel fulfilled.
Joining the Waist Drum Team
When I first saw the waist drum team, I admired those practitioners. They are a big team, play the drums in unison and their performances are very powerful. I felt it would be great if I could play like them. But I had no sense of music, and I wasn’t coordinated.
Other practitioners encouraged me to take my children to the Minghui School which is held on weekends. They studied the Fa and practiced the exercises with the other children and they later joined the waist drum team. They learned fast and were able to participate in the parade and performances. They were still children, so they sometimes lost their tempers, cried or didn’t raise their arms while playing the drums.
Their parents initially encouraged them and rewarded them with snacks so that they could complete the whole parade. As we understood the Fa more, we no longer provided these enticements. We hoped these young practitioners would validate the Fa from their own hearts and were in a divine state while they participated. When I reminded my children to keep their arms raised and keep smiling, they said, “Why don’t you play the drums?” Their words awakened me. So I joined the waist drum team.
It was very hard for me in the beginning. My movements were not coordinated, and I didn’t understand the music. I then memorized the movements from the beginning to the end. When the movements started in the middle in rehearsal, I couldn’t recognize the music and didn’t know which movement it was, so I just followed the others.
In order to know which music matches a specific movement, I used a method we used while I was at school. In dance class during PE, the teacher told us to take dance notes using simple symbols to record the beat’s movements. I used this method. I used simple symbols to record each beat in the computer.
In my spare time, I looked at the musical notation, counted the beat with the music and repeatedly practiced the movements. One day I realized that I recognized the music and was able to do the movements according to the music. I was finally able to participate in a parade to validate the Fa.
I played the waist drum with the young practitioners instead of standing on the side and cheering for them. I was later asked to teach the young practitioners to play waist drum. In order to teach them the correct movements, I must be clear about the details of each movement. So I practiced the drum seriously so I could remember the movements well.
I was not talented. But after constant practice, I was able to do the movements with the music and my movements were more coordinated. This learning process let me know the inner meaning of “cultivation depends on one’s own efforts, while transformation of gong is done by one’s master” (Lecture One, Zhuan Falun) Now I can teach new team members the movements. The music notation was welcomed by everyone. It was practical. New team members are able to remember the movements and music more easily.
Our waist drum team is always the last group in the parade. We wait the longest before we depart. But every team member is in high spirits every time. When we arrive at the endpoint, other practitioners always give us a big round of applause signaling our parade finished successfully. Their applause is an encouragement and also a reminder, hoping that we will do even better.
Master said,
“Every sound of the Fa drums pipes Zhen Shan Ren” (Waist-Drum Troupe, Hong Yin II)
How lucky I am to be a team member of the waist drum team!
Delivering the Newspaper
I became a full time volunteer at the Epoch Times office after I retired. I engaged in different positions from administration to distribution.
Two years ago the practitioner who delivered newspapers was assigned to another district, and a replacement wasn’t found. The district was divided into smaller areas. Epoch Times office employees and volunteers were encouraged to join the delivery team. The employees who had scooters were asked if they would like to join, including me. I didn’t think I should get involved because I needed to do the layout in the evenings. I asked my husband after I got home, and he immediately objected, so I refused.
Soon the coordinator asked me again because the delivery team was short of staff. I was asked to help temporarily. I knew nothing was accidental and we needed to complement each other, so I agreed. I told my husband that I would deliver the newspaper for three months to allow the office to look for a replacement. I thought 3 months would pass quickly. I wouldn’t do it longer than that.
Even if I just picked up the delivery job, I was counting the days. I believed a replacement would be found quickly. Even if they couldn’t find anyone, I would have done my best and could leave the position. Three months passed. No replacement was found so I continued delivering the newspapers. Two years passed, but no replacement was found.
Now, not only do I deliver newspapers, I’m the director of a branch office and coordinate the delivery job.
I didn’t know the hardship until I started delivering newspapers. The Epoch Times is an important truth-clarification platform, and delivering the newspapers is the last leg of the job. Who will do this last leg? I thought someone else would do it. I couldn’t do it. Actually we don’t know if we can do something until we try.
A practitioner who delivered the paper said, “It’s simple. Just put the newspaper into the mail box, and you’ve completed the job. The delivery rate is 100%.” Yes, as long as I wanted to do the job, I could complete it 100% every day. All my excuses for not doing the job disappeared once I began doing it. The real issue was my heart. I knew that we should complement each other. But when it was my turn to help, I wasn’t willing.
I actually benefited a lot. Before I began delivering the paper I seldom had the chance to see the morning glow. When I delivered the newspapers, I saw the sky turned from dark to bright, and the full sunrise accompanied me. I started my day in such a beautiful way. I used to oversleep and was late to do the exercises in the park. Some days I missed doing them. Now I go to the exercise site after I finish delivering papers, and then I come home to meditate.
I started to memorize the Fa again. Although I know the importance of memorizing the Fa, I used every excuse to tell myself that I didn’t have the time to do it. I memorized the Fa on and off and didn’t continue. When I deliver the newspaper, I walk the same route, wait for the same green lights and see the same scenery. But my thoughts wandered. One day a delivery practitioner shared his experience of memorizing the poems from Hong Yin, and said the result was good. So I decided to start memorizing the Fa again.
I downloaded Zhuan Falun onto my old cell phone and found a phone holder. I memorize the Fa while I’m on my scooter. I checked the content of the paragraph to see if I correctly memorized it while waiting for the green light. My mind no longer wandered wildly. I use the delivery time to memorize the Fa paragraph by paragraph, and I’ve now memorized five lectures.
I let go of my attachments to personal interest and jealousy while I delivered newspapers. It takes about two hours. I cover a large area but not many households. We have a delivery allowance, but mine just covers my scooter expenses. In the beginning, I thought, “Some practitioners spend half the time delivering the same number of copies as I do, while others deliver twice as many copies in the same amount of time.”
I also learned that one practitioner spent one hour delivering just a few copies but continued doing it. One couple delivers the newspaper together. When they deliver them on rainy days, they have to refuel out of their own pocket, but they are very thankful to Master for giving them this opportunity. I have a pension and time, but I still thought I wasn’t properly compensated. Wasn’t this laughable?
I am very lucky that I am a papergirl to deliver this treasure to people. I deliver Epoch Times to the subscribers and complete the last leg of the paper distribution.
I didn’t have extraordinary experiences. My journey from initially refusing using excuses, to not pushing back, to willingly accepting the responsibility, is a solid cultivation process.
Please kindly point out anything inappropriate.
Thank you Master! Thank you fellow practitioners!
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